Coming Of Age
by starlight.moon.princess
Summary: In which Harry and Neville are on their way to Hogwarts for the first time, Lily is tad too worried and James and Sirius are bent on destroying Professor McGonagall's sanity despite Lily and Remus shouting at them. :: AU


**For the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition and Ashleigh's October Monthly Competition **

**This fic is based on the following prompt: **_What if Severus Snape hadn't told Lord Voldemort about the prophecy?_ In my - admittedly rather twisted - mind this translates into Alice and Frank Longbottom being killed in the process of their jobs. By the time Voldemort hears of the prophecy from Peter, Neville is living with the Potters, who happen to be his godparents. In his eagerness to get to the both boys from the prophecy, he stuns James and Lily instead of killing him, but Lily's willingness to die for both boys still saves them - and there are two Boys Who Lived :3

Also, Neville calls Lily and James 'Ma' and 'Pa' as a way to differentiate them from his biological Mum and Dad.

* * *

"Are you sure the two of you will be okay?" the red-haired woman asked the two young boys in front of her worriedly.

The brunet man by her side answered before either of the boys could speak. "Don't worry about them, Lils, they'll be fine! Especially if they follow everything Sirius and I have taught them over the years – I'm sure they'll carry on our legacy well."

Lily turned to look at her husband, throwing him a furious look. "I'm still not happy about you two morons teaching them all your pranking trick, Potter," she hissed. "Remus and I will be having a _talk_ with you'll once we return home! But that's not the point," she continued, calm once again. She turned to look back at the boys, throwing them a gentle smile. "Do you two have everything? Your wands? Neville, do you have your Mimbulus Mibletonia with you?"

"We have everything, Mum," Harry assured her. "Don't worry, we'll be fine! We're meeting the Weasleys on the train, and Fred and George won't mess with us now that they know who the Marauders are – in fact, they've promised to show us around the castle without deliberately misleading us once."

"Don't worry, Ma," Neville said, "We'll be fine."

"Don't forget to stay away from the press!" Lily continued. "I don't care what they tell you they want, they're nothing but piranhas circling for the next juicy meal."

"We know, Mum," Harry said with an air of someone who had heard the same advice often. "We've grown up with the press, we know how to deal with them."

"Not when they have your fellow students helping them," Lily fretted. "I knew we should have taken Professor Dumbledore up on his offer to give the students a talk on why they shouldn't talk to the press."

"Stop panicking, Lils," James said, pulling her into his arms. "They'll be fine! We've raised them well, don't worry."

"I know," she sighed, wilting. "I'm sorry boys, it's just-"

"We know, you're just worried," Harry and Neville chorused.

"Yes," she replied sheepishly.

"Come on, Ma," Neville said, "If we don't get onto the platform soon, the train will leave without us."

James and Harry watched the two of them walk through the barrier between King's Cross and the platform.

Before Harry could join them, James laid a hand on his shoulder and bent down to look him in the eye. "You'll look out for your brother, right?" he asked seriously. "We both know he's not like you – he's so much shyer than you are that I understand why your mother's worried about him."

"Don't worry, Dad," Harry replied, "Nev and I are going to have a ball of a time at Hogwarts, just you wait."

"I don't doubt it," James replied. "I just had to tell you, or your mother would have killed me once the two of you were on the train."

Harry sniggered. "You know she's still probably going to kill you for the pranking advice, right?" he asked as the two of them started to make their way towards the platform.

"I'm aware," James groused. "At least I still managed to educate you and Neville – make sure to create hell at Hogwarts in the name of the Marauders, alright?"

"That's definitely not something you have to worry about, Dad. With Fred and George by our side, and Ron certain to be helping us…well, I doubt you'll have to wait very long for your first letter from Professor McGonagall."

"That's what I like to hear!" James crowed, patting Harry's shoulder.

Father and son passed through the pillar separating the Muggle world from Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Lily and Neville were waiting for them at the entrance to the platform, with two grinning men standing behind them.

"Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed happily, jumping on him as soon as he came into sight. "And Harry! You're both here! Brilliant!"

Harry just sighed at the behaviour of his godfather. He was almost too used to the way Sirius liked to act. When combined with his father in public, it was an almost certain combination for his utter and complete embarrassment.

Looking at his mum and Remus' faces, he could tell that they felt exactly the same way as he did. This time, it was Remus who spoke up, grabbing Sirius by the collar and pulling him off of James.

"The two of you can have your touching reunion later," he said exasperatedly. "Your nephews – and your sons, James – are about to leave for Hogwarts for the first time. I'm sure this can be postponed to until the train has pulled out of the station."

And without so much as a blink, Sirius changed his objects of attention from James to Neville and Harry. "That's right, of course!" he exclaimed, bouncing on the heels of his feet like an overexcited two year old. "The Mini-Marauders are finally going to Hogwarts! Don't forget to do everything I would, boys. I'll be really disappointed if James doesn't have at least one letter from Minnie by tomorrow!"

Before either of the boys could reply – or Lily could hex him – the sound of the train pulling into the platform pulled the attention of all six people away from the conversation.

Lily started herding them towards the train. "Come on boys, you want to get in before all the compartments are taken."

Just before they entered the train, she bent down and wrapped them both in a tight hug, refusing to let go despite their struggles and embarrassed protests. "I'm going to miss you both so much," she murmured, kissing each of them on the forehead before letting them go. "Now go, before I decide I'd rather home school you two instead."

At that, Harry and Neville quickly scrambled to get on the train as Lily laughed at their reaction to her threat.

James wrapped an arm around her waist and she laid her head on his shoulder as they watched the train pull out of the station. "I'm really going to miss the boys, you know," she whispered sadly.

"I know," James replied, "But I'm sure you'll forget all about that as soon as either Sirius or I do something that you count as stupid."

She laughed softly. "I don't doubt that," she agreed easily.

"Now come on," he said, urging her away from the spot where they were standing. "Sirius and Remus are waiting for us – we're meeting up with the old Order gang, remember?"

As the two of the walked away, the smoke from the train slowly trailed off in the distance, before disappearing out of eyeshot.


End file.
